22g rimless - river bank scape - 56k warning...new pics (10/4)

[malaybiswas]

I was getting kind of bored with my scape that was blooming for the last 7 months (journal here). So when I saw these exotic wood and moss day before yesterday in AF, I gave in to the idea of starting a new scape (which btw was in my mind for a while). So I fell for it and got what I wanted and broke down the tank yesterday and moved the fish and plants. I'll incorporate some of the plants in my new scape but I will put most of the rotala for sale tomorrow.

So adios to my old layout and holla to the new one.

This is what I have

Hardscape

beautiful borneo driftwood from AF and couple of the old black wood with java moss from my tank


Shou stone - all that I had till now. Some of them have java moss on them.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/__4fFwH-ybSI/Sm...0/DSC01157.JPG

Plants
Jungermannia pseudocyclop from AF


Notocyphus lutescens from AF


Fissidens geppii from AF


Subwassertung


Anubias barteri (some are var nana) from old tank


Needle leaf java fern and bolbitis




Limnophila aromatica and Lilaeposis mauritiana





Alternanthera reineckii 'Purple'


hygrophila siamensis


Rotala rotundifolia


I have absolutely no experience with the new mosses but they are so beautiful that I had to try them. I just need to keep my fingers crossed and hope they do well.

For substrate I'll use Aquasoil amazonia from my old tank in the back for stem plants. The fore ground will be covered with sarawak sand.

This is the bare bone hardscape layout from this morning. The rocks and dw with moss on them are yet to be added.






Please provide your feedback on the hardscape. I'll start the next steps in an hour or so, SO PLEASE provide your feedback ASAP.

[FrostyNYC]

Wow there's a lot going on in that hardscape! I do envy all the pieces you have to work with, including your mosses. (btw your anubias photo is subwassertang, you might want to fix that)

Regarding your hardscape, it actually looks really haphazard. The one thing that sort of stick out for me is that piece of driftwood in the middle that's sort of curved downward. Have you tried flipping it over so it curves up? Another thing you MIGHT consider is losing either a few rocks or some wood.

[stev0205]

I like the hardscape. My opinion is that you should use all those awesome mosses and ferns... ditch the hygro and see what you can do with that rotala

[KDahlin]

It looks a little jumbled to me. Maybe once the plants are added it will look better.

[Digsy]

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you put together with all of this. I agree that the hardscape is a little cluttered but you've got good pieces to work with and judging by your previous scape, you'll come up with something.

[CL]

Originally Posted by FrostyNYC

The one thing that sort of stick out for me is that piece of driftwood in the middle that's sort of curved downward. Have you tried flipping it over so it curves up?

Agreed, make the one piece point up and it would look pretty cool to me

[oldpunk78]

it might just be me, but i'd kinda like to see the mound offset to one side and a little smaller. (sorry, not very asap, lol) i bet it turns out awesome any way you end up with.

[malaybiswas]

Hey...thank you all for your feedback. Sorry my son feel sick for the last 2 days so I could not focus on getting the tank up and post simultaneously. However I did take the suggestions seriously

FrostNYC and clwatkins10, I'll try out your suggestion on reversing the direction of the dw in the center. However I wanted to see how it goes together both ways, with plants attached. I have currently left it as it is and attached the plants. Will post pictures today. It is simple to twist it so I'll change it the other way and post those pics too for suggestions on which one looks better.

KDahlin and Digsy, yes it does look a bit cluttered. I have actually ditched some rocks but I ran short of sand so I had cover up as much base with rocks so that there is no empty foreground. Also, the wall of rocks is an attempt to restrict the aquasoil from mixing with the sand in future. That said, there is room for remake since all the flora is easy to remove and replace, so I'll look forward to your suggestions after seeing the finished scape.

oldpunk78 - I actually have the focal point in the 1:1.6 ratio on the left like the gurus suggest (I actually had taped the coordinates on the glass when I began ). However it also makes up with plants and not just the rocks. The idea is for the rocks to form the base and also the barrier between aquasoil and sand and create the focal point with rocks, dw & plant combination. Let's see what feedback I get (including yours) on the finished scape and I'll rearrange accordingly.

stev0205 - I actually plan to keep the Hygro. The broad leaves and color contrast goes very well I guess. However like other suggestions, I am also looking for suggestions on plants after viewing the finished scape. I have a bunch of different rotalas in my other tank, so I can try out a few variations. So far I planted what seemed to go well for me. Please check back tomorrow for updated pics and provide your comments.

That's enough blah blah for you and me . I guess it boils down to one thing. Post the photos first. Check back this evening or tomorrow.

[FSM]

The wide piece of driftwood at the bottom looks like it has been cut, which doesn't provide a very natural look. I would spin it around if the other end isn't the same, or remove it.

[hydrophyte]

nice. it looks a little crowded now, but i'm sure the stone and wood will be more balanced when you have covered some with gravel and then also plants.

i like the way that those two branches point down in an unexpected way. i wouldn't change that.

[malaybiswas]

Anubias picture fix (thanks FrostyNYC)

FSM - Yes that is cut, but it all eventually got covered in sand.

hydrophyte - Yes, that's what I thought as well. Instead of all but one pointing upwards, I felt having a few pointing downwards would make it more natural looking (there is one more moss covered that points downwards as well on the right...pictures coming)

Thank you all for the feedback.

[malaybiswas]

Picture time!

FTS. See how 3 dw point downwards and 5 upwards.


Closer


Even closer


center closeup


Closeup of left top


left bottom


right side


Please critique. I'll post pictures with the middle dw pointing upwards, but that has to wait till the weekend.

Thank you for visiting.

[SearunSimpson]

Once that fills in thats going to look awesome!

[Ugly Genius]

Tank looks great. I'm growing a lot of the same mosses. I'd love to see how they compare in our different tank conditions as I'm going low-light with a lot of CO2.

[Digsy]

Looking good! Now that the plants are in, it looks much less cluttered, just like someone predicted.